Stencil applicator



Jan. 5, 1960 l.. R. MooNEY STENCIL APPLICATOR Filad Aug. 20. 19572,919,642 STENCIL APPLICATOR Laurence R. Mooney, St. Paul, Minn.,assignor to Sten-C- Labl Incorporated, St. Paul, Minn., a corporation ofMinnesota Application August 20, 1957, Serial No. 679,199 3 Claims. (Cl.101-125) This invention relates generally to applicators for stencilsand particularly to an applicator designed for producing 4a relativelylargen number of impressions.

While the applicators disclosed in my previously iiled cci-pendingIapplications for U.S. Letters Patent respectfully entitled, "lnkDispensing Applicator for Stencils, iiled April 7, 1954, Serial No.421,470, now abandoned, and Improved Stencil Applicator, iiled November26, 1954, Serial No. 471,338 have been relatively satisfactory, it hasbeen a problem when producing a relatively large number of impressionsto prevent the stencil from deteriorating. I have discovered that thisdeterioration is due to lack of backing support and in this inventionhave disclosed and claimed in combination with the resilient pad of theapplicator a reinforcing backing screen which not only assists in theuniform distribution of the ink to the stencil but also provides arelatively stiff backing for the stencil and prevents the same fromdeteriorating duc to repeated impressions.

It is an object of my present invention to provide an applicator whichis particularly designed to permit a large number of impressions to beproduced without deterioration of the stencil.

It is another object to provide an applicator wherein an ink supplyshut-off is provided between the reservoir and the distribution chamber.

It is still a further object to provide an applicator having reinforcingframe surrounding the pad and iiexible covering thereof to securely holdsaid covering in operative position and provide a retaining flange forsaid pad.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fullyappear from the following description, made in connection with theaccompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer to thesame or similar parts through the several views, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational of my new applicator with portions thereofbroken away to show certain parts in vertical section;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof with the reservoir removed; and

Fig. 3 is bottom plan view with portions broken away to show other partsin section.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings I provide an upper bodymember 7 having a bottle receiving socket or sleeve 8 which isinternally threaded to permit a reservoir bottle 9 to be threadablymounted therein. A suitable reinforcing web 8a is provided forreinforcing the socket or sleeve 8.

The threaded portion of the bottle 9 is suiiiciently long to extend intosaid socket 8 the full length thereof and sealingly engage the lower endportion of said socket when fully threadably inserted therento. In theform shown, a pair of discharge passages 10 are provided through thebottom of the socket 8 adjacent the periphery of the threaded wallthereof and these passages 10 are vopen to receive ink from thereservoir 9 only when the bottle is threadably retracted from the bottomof the ice i 2,919,642

and the distribution thereof which is delivered to the top, surface of aresilient, porous pad 13, having relativelyl small porous openingstherein. The pad 13 is secured to the bottom ofthe plate 12` as by beingglued thereto.

VA Hanged frame 14 surrounds the body and perforated' plate 12 andextends downwardly a slight distance beyond the bottom of said plate 12as best shown in Fig l. This formsa retaining skirt portion around theupper part of the pad 13 and a flange 14a limits the downward movement`of the frame 14 on the body 7.

In order to prevent localized pressure from causing indentations in thehighly yieldable, resilient pad 13` and thus stretching portions of astencil applied thereto, I provide a relatively stiif screen element 15mounted in face to face underlying relation to the bottom of the pad 13as best shown in Fig. 1. A porous cover member such as the linen cloth16 surrounds the pad 13 and screen 15 and the marginal edge portionsthereof are extended upwardly between the outside of the body and theinside of the frame 14 and are securely anchored therebetween. Thescreen not only serves to distribute any localized pressure applied tothe bottom of the pad 13 but also tends to produce a more evendistribution of the ink through the pad by causing a uniform compressionof all portions of the pad whenever pressure is applied thereto to forma uniform suction of ink into the pad from the entire top area thereof.The screen 15 prevents damage to the stencil caused by repeatedindentations thereof produced by irregularities in the surface beingprinted and serves as a backer panel to uniformly support all areas ofthe stencil. The screen is freely mounted for movement with the bottomof the resilient pad 13 and is held in contact with the bottom of saidpad solely by the cloth member 16.

It will be seen that I have provided an applicator for stencils capableof producing a large number of stencil impressions without stretchinglocalized areas of the stencil and thus causing deterioration thereof.It should be noted that I have provided a relatively simple valvearrangement for shutting off the ow of ink from the reservoir bottle 9into the distribution chamber 12a. The bottle 9 can, of course, be ofany suitable design and construction but I have found that apolyethylene type squeeze bottle is thoroughly satisfactory. Thisfrequently requires, however, that the passages 10 be closed even duringoperation of the applicator to prevent excessive inking of the pad. Thelinen cloth used with my present applicator has been found to besuperior to the silk screen cloth previously used since the linenthreads absorb considerably more ink than does the silk and thusproduces a more uniform distribution of the ink on the surface of thecloth to which the stencil is applied in the manner set forth in myprior applications previously identified herein.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made inthe form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts withoutdeparting from the scope of my invention which consists of the mattershown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A stencil applicator comprising a body including means for attachingan ink reservoir thereto, said body denng a distribution chambertherewithin and includ? Patented Jan. 5, 1960 ing means for deliveringink from said reservoir to said chamber, a resiliently compressibleporous pressure pad mounted below said chamber with a perforatedmounting pla-te interposed therebetween substantially coextensive withsaid distribution chamber, a oating reinforcing relatively stiff meshflat screen underlying said resilient porous pressure pad supportedsolely by said pad but otherwise free to move with respect to said bodyin response to compression and expansion of said pad, a covering ofporous flexible material surrounding said pressure pad and said screenwith the edge portions thereof securely anchored to the side portions ofsaid body to positively hold said screen against said pad Whilepermitting ink to be evenly distributed through said pad, screen andporous covering,

2. The structure set forth in claim l and a circumferential clampingframe surrounding said body and positively clamping said llexible covermember thereto,

3. A stencil applicator comprising a body, a mounting socket internallythreaded to receive a cooperatively, externally threaded reservoirbottle, the length of the socket being such that the open end of thebottle will sealingly seat itself at the bottom of the socket when fullythreaded therein, said socket having discharge openings in the bottomthereof substantially adjacent the periphery to be closed off when the.open end of the bottle is tightly sealed against the end of the socket,but being open for discharge when the bottle is threadably retractedfrom the socket, and a porous pressure pad having the upper surfacethereof communicating with said discharge openings to receive ink fromsaid reservoir when said openings are open.

References 'Jited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,119,233 Boone Dec. 1, 1914 1,626,323 Bendick Apr. 26, 1927 1,789,464Harts Jan. 20, 1931 2,020,151 Madden Nov. 5, 1935 2,335,992 Biskind Dec.7, 1943 2,425,251 Landau Aug. 5, 1947 2,600,413 Mason et al. June 17,1952

